500 Themes to Insanity
by FHT3rdandCo
Summary: Theme One: Introduction. The masquerade was a truly perfect picture. From the young knights point of view though, there was a perfect imperfection. AU, Fakiru.
1. Introduction

((A/N: I really feel no need to explain(I believe the title says it all) but just because I feel like it, I shall.

There are five variations of the 100 themes challenge. I intend to do all 500 X3 Yes, I do realize I'm insane.))

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**500 Themes to Insanity**

_#1 Introduction_

Figures danced a waltz across the floor, none of their faces were memorable but their masks certainly were. The masquerade was going beautifully, the lights sparkled, the dancers were graceful, the music grand…

All was perfect.

From where he stood, above the ballroom floor and leaning over a banister, Fakir vaguely wished he would have been aloud to attend.

But no, he was a maid's son. Friend of the crown prince or not, it did not change his birth. It did not change what blood flowed through him.

Despite this he would be a knight once he grew old enough, and though he was sure he would never be able to waltz across the marble floor with the rest, he would at least be able to stand by his prince and guard him from harm.

The music struck a slow song and the eight year old boy almost let out a sound of disinterest and disgust at the dancers now changing from a waltz to something far more romantic.

Well, he thought determined, if he ever were to dance across that beautiful ballroom, he would be sure to avoid this song. There was no way he would dance to such a 'romantic' tune. It just didn't suit his character.

Though, despite his inner distaste, he could not help but admit that the masquerade still held its absolute perfection. The dancers mimicked each other grandly while the musicians matched each step with a melody.

It was really almost magical looking, like something straight from a fairy tale.

As he watched with melancholy eyes, he couldn't help but spot the imperfection in the absolute beauty.

There, under of the many grandly decorated tables, a table cloth rustled and a bright head of hair popped out briefly before hiding under once more in embarrassment.

_An intruder?_ The boy was immediately on edge, narrowing his dark green eyes he attempted to spot the suspect once more. There, once more, the head came out, a little to left and this time looking about the room before hiding again.

It didn't take long for him to recognize them as a child. Confusion knit his brow, what was a child doing in the ballroom? Only the crown prince was aloud to be there despite being young and he had been restricted to stand by the throne throughout the ball.

It was obvious the girl didn't belong.

But how to abstract her without attracting the attention of the masses? He wasn't even supposed to be on the stairway!

The head hid under the table again and he awaited her next spy.

It didn't happen.

His eyebrows furrowed together further, where did the girl go—?

"Hi!" Fakir jumped, whirling around to face the sudden voice. Confusion was the first thing that came to him, how had the girl managed to sneak up all the stairs?

"You—"

"I saw you looking at the ballroom from up her and thought the view must be very nice! Oh! My names Ahiru! What's yours?"

Fakir blinked, taken aback by her abrupt statements and questions, who did this girl think she was? He looked at her clothing briefly; she was obviously a commoner, though she had managed to look semi presentable for the ball.

He should turn her in! She'd snuck into the castle, she could be a spy!

But… then they would find out he was at the ball… he glanced back at Ahiru, she couldn't be much younger than he was but her face shown with a youth that you didn't see often among the poor. She was either not really poor or… heaven forbid, an optimist.

"Hello? Are you even in there?" he jumped, only now noticing she had gotten within hands reach in the time he had spaced out. Darting out of her reach he glared.

"What are you doing here?!" he hissed out, sure to make himself look as tall and intimidating as he could.

She blinked at his cold attitude and shuffled her feet, "I wanted to see the ball…"

'_So you risked going to jail for life?!_' he didn't spit out this question however, instead he sent her one of his ever famous skeptical looks…

…well, famous in his mind. Someday he would become great at it. People would dread to see it!

Fakir, though he hadn't realized it, was a bit of a dreamer.

She frowned as his expression, her lower lip sticking out just the tiniest bit and she clenched her fists. Even though Fakir was not nearly as intimidating as he'd like to think, Ahiru was able to recognize the expression easily.

All she'd wanted to do was make friends with the boy! He didn't have to be so mean!

"You never told me your name."

Fakir blinked, surprised by her statement. Inwardly, he'd been preparing to fight her off; the expression on her face had expressed her wishes to hit him more than anything else could. Instead he'd received another invitation of friendship?

She was weird, he decided firmly.

"Why should I tell you?" he nearly hit his own head, he'd just avoided conflict and now he was riling her up again? And he'd thought _she_ was stupid!

Though, somehow, he couldn't help it. Something in him, just at the sight of this girl, something in him screamed for him to be cruel as he could. She was setting him off balance, her and her little surprising nature too!

She grit her teeth and Fakir resisted gulping, he'd spent enough time outside the castle to know that village girls tended to get violent(one girl, Rue, had slugged him for scoffing at her).

"Well, Nameless-san, would you like to dance with me?"

Fakir blinked, it took him awhile to digest 'Nameless-san' and when he finally did he was able to register her question.

She wanted to _dance_ with him?!

Seeing his expression of the greatest distaste, she sighed and looked to the ground forlornly, "You wouldn't be my first choice to dance with…" this much was obvious, "But…"

Fakir's eyes widened when he caught her eyes twinkling with the distinct shade of tears.

"But…" she bit her lip to resist tears, "I-I really wanted to dance a-and…" she gulped, her voice was cracking. Why did her voice have to crack in front of him?! He was going to laugh at her, she was sure!

She had more to say but she didn't dare speak nor did she look up from the carpeted ground. She'd always liked the ledge between stairs, it was empty most of the time, yes, but it had its charms. And this one certainly did with its beautiful carpet and lovely paintings.

She heard a sigh and flinched, this was it. He was going to start laughing and then call the guards on her. She'd thought he'd looked so lonely standing on the stairs, viewing the perfect scene below. She knew already that she had been completely wrong about his personality but now she pondered whether or not he'd truly looked lonely, perhaps he was just anti-social.

Suddenly, ripping her from her thoughts, a hand took its place on her waist, another resting gently on her shoulder. Her gaze shot up to meet his but she did not meet his eyes, his eyes were directed anywhere but the village girl before him and if she had dared to look at his face longer she might have caught the red cheeks that matched her own.

She didn't say anything, she knew that anything she said could ruin it and she was so close to being able to dance at a ball that she would not risk her blabber mouth ruining it all.

The previous song ended and he began to move elegantly just as the orchestra struck up a new one. Ahiru found herself doing her very best to simply avoid landing on his feet(she didn't dare look at his face after all), she did not know how to dance well. While under the tables, she had memorized many steps but she had never practiced.

The boy had obviously had lessons before, his skillful movements saved her from many falls that she was sure her clumsiness would have otherwise permitted. Though, as the song progressed, she found herself growing used to the movements, the music and even found herself able to look up from her feet.

Still though, she refused to look at his face. She felt as if a wonderful spell that had been cast would be broken if she looked at her partners face. She did not want the dance to end, she did not want the song to end, and she most certainly wished that even when they inevitably did, the boy would take no notice.

He was kind enough to dance with her, this much was true, but she was also sure that he was likely irritable at having such a horrible partner.

A sudden jerking motion later and she was spinning, it took her only a moment to realize that it was part of the dance. Worries pushed aside she smiled widely, resisting the joyful laugh building in her throat.

It might break the spell.

They danced without a thought for so long that Ahiru had entirely forgotten that it must end inevitably, and as she heard the familiar cords of the song they danced to ending she could not resist turning her eyes to face the nameless boy.

Deep green eyes met a clear blue.

His face was flushed, likely from the exertion of dancing; his eyes were twinkling and his expression somewhere between surprised and happy.

Her own flushed face brightened, an embarrassed feeling rushing through her. It made her want to run from the room hurriedly but at the same time made her want nothing more than to remain.

But, as most children tend to, she followed her first instinct. Jumping away from the contact as if she'd been burned she gave a wobbly curtsy. Gulping, she spoke, "Th-thank you for dancing with me..." She wouldn't make the mistake of looking at his face again; she was going to memorize the pattern of the carpet.

Fakir, feeling the urge to be mean once more, restrained it in favor of the etiquette he had been learning since he could speak, "It was my pleasure." He thanked the lord his voice didn't express how nervous he was feeling.

"I-I have to go! I'm ex-expected home! Good-bye!" before Fakir could even get a word in edgewise, she was already rushing off. Tempted to call after her, he decided against it.

He was a man of action after all.

She only made a few yards before his hand gripped her wrist.

"Fakir."

She blinked in surprise.

"My name is Fakir."

Slowly, a shy smile crawled onto her lips. Taking her wrist from his lightened grip, she spoke softly to the ground.

"It's nice to meet you…"

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((Ending Notes: Am I the only one that thought that was cutest thing ever? X3

Now! Heed my warning! Listen to this absolutely shameless advertising and read 'Schwert und Feder' by RenkonNairu:3 it is absolutely delicious(and cryptic)! Very much worth the read! Heed my shameless advertising!

-Muse-chan eating pizza!))


	2. Love

((A/N: I wrote a different one for this chapter but I really didn't like how it turned out so I wrote this instead XD for anyone confused, I would like to explain briefly that this is a series of One-shots. Though I may continue one One-shot in a future chapter, that will be rare and most these will be able to stand on their own.

Oh yeah! And shameless advertising for my fic 'Heartless'! It's FakirxAhiru! You know you want it!

:3 Without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the second chappy!!

Muse-chan out!))

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**500 Themes to Insanity**

_#2 Love_

Being a strict, to the point business man, Fakir didn't really believe in love.

What was love when there was business to be done? He didn't have time for it, nor did he care for it.

He was CEO of Kinkan Corp, he was rich, famous, handsome, a most wanted bachelor… what did he need with love? His life(and schedule) were full as it is, there was no need to add the unnecessary stress of a relationship.

Still, his father pressed for him to get married soon.

"_You're twenty-three years old already, you need to get married."_

He was already the youngest CEO for Kinkan Corp in decades, why did he have to get_married_?

"_The public are starting to think you are a playboy. They like __family__ men."_

Why would they think he was a playboy? He'd never even had a scandal! The worst the media had been able to say about him _was_ his title as 'Sexiest Bachelor' and that was a year ago!

"_If you don't choose a wife within six months, I'll be forced to have an arranged marriage."_

Fakir let out a frustrated growl as he sat on the park bench. Why was he at the park at four in the morning, dressed in his business suit and all?

He needed to think.

At least, that was what his god-father had told him.

"_Fakir… I think you're over reacting a little." Charon said gently._

"_Over reacting?! He wants me to get __married__! Within six months! What am supposed to do? Walk up to a random stranger and say 'hey, you wanna get hitched'?!"_

_Charon flinched at Fakir's explosion, the poor boy was under too much stress._

"_How am I supposed to do this?!" Fakir resisted the urge to start throwing furniture, he owed Charon too much to just start ruining the mans house._

"_Fall in love?" Charon suggested weakly._

_Fakir let out a harsh laugh, "There's no such thing."_

_Now Charon was concerned, he knew Fakir had always held a certain animosity towards romance but the boy didn't believe in love?_

"_What makes you say that?" Charon asked._

_Fakir gave him a weird look, "It's the facts. Love doesn't exist."_

"_But you love your family, don't you?"_

_Fakir rolled his ees, "Fine, __romantic__ love doesn't exist."_

_Charon gave him a pitying look._

"_I think you need to find somewhere quiet to think."_

_And Charon had refused to talk with him after that._

Think! The old man wanted him to _think_!

He'd already thought over the situation several times! Again and again he'd come to the same conclusion; he was screwed.

But he trusted Charon, always had, so he did as asked and took a walk an hour before work and found someplace quiet. Still after almost a week of coming there to think he still hadn't found his solution.

And here he was, staring blankly ahead and cursing both of his legal guardians. He'd bet money that his father had chosen this time to mention it to Fakir purely because Fakir's mother was off on a business trip overseas and wouldn't be able to interfere until it was to late.

'_Like I would go whining to mother like some kind of child…_' Fakir growled at the thought, his father was treating him like a child!

"Neko-sensei! Wait!" Fakir looked up at the sudden voice, unable to do anything before a purple cat jumped into his lap.

"What the—"

"Neko-sensei!" Fakir looked up as a girl burst from the bushes, stumbling forward and landing facedown on the ground in front of him.

"Itaii…" she groaned and looked up, surprised to see a man in a suit staring blankly down at her. But soon her eyes zeroed in the purring cat in his lap.

"Neko-sensei!" she cried, joy obviously etching across her face, she looked at Fakir, "Thank you so much for catching him! I never could have done it on my own!" she laughed nervously.

She was… cute. In a flustered, imperfect, active sort of way.

"It was no trouble." He replied coldly, somehow irritated by her bright smile.

She furrowed her brow but for the most part ignored his icy tone, instead directing her attention to the cat on his lap.

"Come here Neko-sensei, we have to get home soon." She made cooing noises and Fakir felt disgusted, she was talking to the cat like it actually_understood_ what she had to say.

'Neko-sensei' didn't budge.

The girl furrowed her brows.

"Neko-sensei… come on, please?"

If Fakir didn't know better he'd say he saw the cat shake its head. But there was no way…

The girl let out a frustrated sound, "I'm really sorry, he's being stubborn."

There were countless reasons why Fakir found this girl suspicious. She was chasing a cat at four in the morning, said cat was named 'Neko-sensei'(why_sensei_?), she talked to the cat like it understood her, and… he blinked, she was still in her pajama's apparently.

What _wasn't_ suspicious about her?

"Why don't you just pick him up?" he was genuinely curious, it only made sense to just pick up the cat.

She looked sheepish, "I don't think you'd like me to try that…"

He raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"He doesn't like being moved without permission."

Fakir stared at her blandly, why was he always stuck with the psycho's?

"Just get him off me!" he was getting annoyed.

The girl gave him a pitying look, "Don't say I didn't warn you…" she hesitantly approached and had just barely touched the cats fur when Fakir felt something _very_ painful.

Long, sharp as hell nails digging through his suit and _skin_.

"Yow!" Fakir jumped a little, wanting to shake the cat off.

Neko-sensei only dug his nails deeper.

The girl had backed away a foot, looking defeated, "I'm sorry… would you still like me to try though?"

'_And lose a pound of flesh?!_' Fakir glared at the cat as it finally went about retracting its nails. There was no way to get this cat off against its will. Not unless he wanted to get blood on his brand new suit.

"No."

She sighed and plopped down on the bench beside him.

"I'm really sorry about this, he just took off running suddenly saying something about marri—" she clamped her hands over her mouth, hoping he hadn't caught her slip.

He had.

"Saying? How can a cat talk to you?" this girl just got more suspicious by the second.

She gulped, what could she possibly say?!

"Er… I mean, he mewed a lot! So you know, he was sorta saying something in his own cattish way!" she laughed nervously, she was obviously lying.

Fakir nearly groaned. This chick was crazy.

The girl, nervous to change topics, blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"How are you?"

'How are you'?! She nearly cried, it was a conversation starter, yes, for people who _knew_ each other!

Fakir gave her a droll look.

"Fine."

Why did Neko-sensei have to jump someone so cold?! She sighed.

"Ah… My names Ahiru, what's yours?"

Even her _name_ was strange!

Fakir sighed; he couldn't say his name was strange as well though. Not many people in Japan had names like 'Fakir'.

"Fakir."

Ahiru looked thoughtful, "That's a German name, right?"

Fakir blinked, most people commented on how weird the name was, not many actually knew it was German. Not many people knew he was half German either.

"Yeah…"

She grinned, "I thought so!"

'_She looks so proud of herself…_' Fakir sighed; she was just too cheerful, especially this early in the morning.

What was she doing out this early?

"So…" she was grasping for straws, how was she supposed to start a conversation? "What are you doing out here so early?"

"I could ask you the same." He replied drolly.

"Mou!" she pouted.

He sighed. She was just trying to pass the time until her cat detached itself. She probably accidentally let the cat out when she opened the front door to get the newspaper her something and chased it without a second thought.

"I'm thinking."

She was surprised that he answered, but her curiosity grew, "About what?"

He gave her a look, should he answer?

What harm would it do?

The question struck him suddenly. It couldn't really do any harm, not unless she worked for the tabloids or something…

What did he have to lose?

"My father wants me to get married…"

"M-meow!!" the cat in his lap jumped at the word(which word, he wasn't sure) and began sweating profusely.

"I-is your cat okay?" Fakir moved as far away from the spazzing cat as he could.

Ahiru laughed sheepishly, "Yeah… he does that every time someone mentions marriage."

Fakir gave her a look that could only be described as 'seriously?'

Ahiru nodded, laughing a little.

Fakir wisely decided to ignore the cat.

"You were saying?" Ahiru prompted, still curious about what the man was doing in the middle of a park at four in the morning in a business suit.

Fakir sighed, "I don't want to get married."

Ahiru blinked, "Do you not love your fiancée?"

"I don't have a fiancée or a girlfriend for that matter." Fakir replied.

"Then why does he want you to get married?" Ahiru was confused, what point was there in pressuring someone to get married when they haven't even found the one they love?

"The public likes family men." Fakir replied.

Ahiru furrowed her brows, "What does that have to do with anything?"

It was then, that Fakir realized another odd fact about this girl.

She didn't seem to recognize him at all. He was in plenty of magazines that girls her age(she looked about twenty) seem to find fascinating yet she hadn't noticed at all that she was talking to a most sought after bachelor.

"You don't know who I am?"

She looked really confused now, "Of course I don't! We only just met!"

He couldn't resist, somehow the idea of someone treating him like they didn't know every one of his business ventures and not assuming they knew him… somehow being treated like a stranger…

Fakir couldn't resist smiling.

Her eyes widened, "You smiled!"

Fakir snapped his face to another direction, "No, I didn't."

"But I saw it!"

"You were hallucinating." His face was starting to heat up.

She was attempting to see his face, but he kept turning away!

"But it was really pretty! Come on! Let me see!"

Fakir almost laughed.

She was weird. Completely weird.

He liked her.

Fakir, finally managing to properly suppress his smile, turned back to her.

"Meanie!" she pouted, obviously disappointed that he had gone through such lengths to hide any signs of happiness.

…that, and it really was a pretty smile.

"So what about you?"

She blinked, "Eh?"

"What are you doing out here so early?" Fakir gave her an almost challenging look.

"A-ah!" she looked nervous, "I-I, well…"

Fakir was getting worried, what if she _was_ paparazzi?

"Come on, I told you what I was doing here."

She sighed, defeated, "Er… well… you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Try me."

She looked torn, "But…"

"Look, I promise to believe you as long as you don't say something downright crazy sounding." Fakir sighed, he wasn't even that curious but the way she was avoiding the question annoyed him…

He glanced at her expression; she should be a little calmer…

Why does she look even_more_ panicked?

"And if it is crazy sounding…?" she asked hesitantly.

Fakir raised a brow, "I don't suppose I'd believe you then."

She almost seemed relieved.

"In that case… I'm a witch who got chased out of my apartment last night by my roommate, who wanted me to face the forces of evil, after some time my cat Neko-sensei, who is also my teacher in being a witch, convinced me to face the evil Raven, and I was just getting back from an epic battle that ended in a draw when Neko-sensei suddenly ran away saying something about marriage."

Fakir blinked once, Fakir blinked twice. Fakir managed to blink quite a few times.

She sounded so serious and sincere…

Fakir burst out laughing.

"Okay, I seriously didn't expect you to say that." He managed after his laughter had subsided some.

She was pouting and crossed her arms.

"It's true!"

He raised an eyebrow again, "Seriously?"

"Yes!"

He started laughing again.

Suddenly, as if to destroy the perfectly good Kodak moment, Neko-sensei hopped into Ahiru's lap.

"Neko-sensei!" Ahiru cried, startled.

"Let's go. We have to prepare Rue's breakfast." Neko-sensei stated matter-a-factly.

"Hai!"

Fakir, who stopped laughing, was now staring flabbergasted at the pair as they walked away.

Ahiru turned suddenly, "It was nice talking to you Fakir! I hope you can find someone you like to marry!"

"M-m-marriage?!" Neko-sensei cried.

"Oh shush."

Fakir gaped after them. Unless Ahiru was a _very_ good ventriloquist, that cat just_talked_!

His watch beeped, informing him that his short break before work was over and he needed to get his ass over there.

He was still stunned as he walked home, when he got into his car it finally seemed to sink in a little.

Slowly, a smile started growing on his face. He had always liked fantasy.

Maybe love wasn't such a bad idea…

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((Ending Notes: XD This was so fun to write. A lot of scenes turned out awkwardly but in the end I really enjoyed doing this one!

:3 I think the next one I do might be MythoxLillie…(I _love_ that pairing!) but I'm not sure… would any of you mind if I wrote some MyhtoxLillie goodness? I'm sorry to MythoxRue fans, but you're less than likely to find that pairing here(I don't like Mytho much XD) but I might write some if I get inspired(I _do_ love Rue lots)

X3 I'm random. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-Muse-chan still avoiding homework like a moron.))


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